Reveal secret donations that benefit the governor

It’s no secret that there’s too much money in politics. In recent years, voters could take solace in knowing that most of this money was traceable. We may not have been able to turn off the spigot, but at least we knew where the water was coming from. Not this year.

According to the watchdog group, Democracy 21, by the close of the 2010 election cycle, non-profit groups will have spent over $200 million in campaign ads. Because of a loophole in the system, these groups, organized under section 501(c) of the federal tax code, are not required to release their donor lists. And there is no limit to contributions from individual or companies. In practical terms, this means that any individual (say, John D. Rockefeller) or company (say, Standard Oil) can funnel unlimited amounts of money into political advertisements, under an impenetrable cloak of anonymity.

Take a look at this system in practice. This year, the United States Chamber of Commerce, and Crossroads GPS, founded by Karl Rove, are running tens of millions of dollars of attack ads--most of them aimed at Democratic congressional candidates. We have no idea who is funding this effort. We don’t know whether their donors stand to gain government contracts or win other concessions under a new Congress. We don’t know if these groups are accepting contributions from foreign corporations or governments, which would violate federal election law and pose a threat to national security. In short, we know almost nothing about what they’re raising and spending.

A recent ruling by the United States Supreme Court makes it all but impossible to place limits on the amount of money that 501(c) groups can accept and spend on political activities. But we can make a bad system a little better by shining the spotlight on their activities.

In New Jersey, I am introducing legislation that would require any 501(c) organization that engages in state or local electioneering to periodically disclose its contributions and expenditures. This is a model that other states should follow, and that Congress should apply at the federal level. Let me give you an example of how this would work.

This year, allies of Gov. Chris Christie - including both the governor’s chief campaign strategist, and his former law partner and campaign finance chair - organized a group called Reform New Jersey Now.

In theory, the organization’s purpose is to advocate for Christie’s legislative agenda. In practice, it could very well operate in next year’s legislative elections as a partisan Republican campaign fund, or as the operating account for the governor’s national political activities. We just don’t know. Because it’s classified as a 501(c)(4), Reform NJ is required to disclose neither the source of its funding nor its line item expenditures. My bill would make such reporting mandatory.

My bill also goes a step further. Under New Jersey’s pay-to-play laws, any individual or corporation that donates $300 to a state candidate is ineligible to receive a state contract over $17,500. This rule ensures that public contracts are not bought and sold to the highest bidder.

Earlier this year, the governor headlined a fundraiser for Reform Jersey Now. The event invitation boasted that its contributions “are not affected by the pay-to-play statutes.” Intentional or not, the invitation sends a chilling message: if you pay, you can play...and no one will ever know. My bill would address this problem by folding any 501(c) group that engages in state and local electioneering into New Jersey’s pay-to-play universe.

Critics may argue that my bill violates the Supreme Court’s equation of money and free speech. It does no such thing. Individuals and corporations will still be free to spend unlimited amounts on partisan politics. But they won’t be able to do so anonymously, and they won’t be eligible to receive lucrative state contracts in exchange for their largesse.

Louis Brandeis once said that states are the laboratories of democracy. If we succeed in making the system a little more transparent in New Jersey, surely we’ll be able to deliver the same kind of reform around the country.